Tag Archives: art journal

Back in January I wrote how Jerry was making a new violin. when he finished it I decided to sketch it (of course). This is the first sketch of the new violin in our house. This is also a EDM challenge sketch #17 which reads Draw a musical instrument

Then the following day I decided to make a page spread to celebrate that he had actually finished building it. I think it’s sort of magic how someone can make a musical instrument.

I am still working in my hand bound journal and some of the paper is smooth for writing but I wanted an interesting surface to sketch on as I wanted to capture a little more of the feel of the instrument. I tore up some old sheet music and used Gesso to glue it to the pages. I then used watercolour paints, inktense pencils, artist pitt pens, and colour pencils to draw the violin.

I thought I would share some of the process and the finished page spread. Click on the images to see larger versions.

If you want to hear it Jerry made a youtube video to share with some facebook mates. You can view and hear it below.

I often draw the same thing more than once because the item itself is slightly different, or I see it differently, my skill level changes, my focus changes, or I use different media on different paper. What ever the reason each sketch presents a different set of challenges which I can learn from. Today I am sharing two recent drawing of pears. One is done in the journal and one is done in my new one.

EDM drawing prompt 62 reads Draw a previous challenge in a different medium than you usually use.

I have sketched pears before (I love them and they are in our fruit bowl often!) These two sketches are done a couple of days apart
The first is created with coloured pencils which I blended with rubbing alcohol. It was one of the drawing exercises in one of the online classes I took. I am working my way through a number of exercises from various classes with a little more thoroughness. When doing online classes because they are not a regular thing in my life I find I either have to hurry to do the exercises or they slip and they don’t get done.

I do not use a lot of coloured pencil but I like them because they are a dry medium. There are many times when I can not use wet media. For instance just this last Sunday I was drawing in Our National Art Gallery and they only pencil. So I am keen to experiment with coloured pencils more.

The second sketch is done in my new journal. You can see one of the spacer cards that I have bound into the book. I have cut the edge of it with one of those paper craft punches that creates fancy deckled edges. The sketch itself is in the top right hand corner of the page because I will write on the rest of the page. For this sketch I used my Lamy pen with De Atramentis document water proof ink in it (fog grey) watercolour paints, Derwent watercolour pencils, Derwent Inktense pencils (almost a disaster as they were too strong for the image) and a touch of white conte pencil.

The two sketches were done days apart and I learnt much about materials from both of them. I hope you have enjoyed my little ramble and explanation of the two drawings.

I have a new hand bound journal sketchbook. I often hand bind my journals and thought I would share some of the points I consider when I assemble them.

Why do I hand bind my journal sketchbooks?
I like to write, and like to draw in the same book. The problem is that the paper in sketchbooks is made for drawing, and not often suitable to write on. It is also often expensive. On the other hand, the paper in notebooks even if it is unlined, is often not suitable to sketch on and will buckle, weaken and even fall apart if you add too much wet media. So what do you do if you want to write and sketch? My solution is to make my own journals with a mix of paper types. I have a leaf or two of writing paper and then a page which is suitable for a sketch. Once you are mixing your paper types it is a simple step to mix different types of drawing/watercolour/tinted paper in the same book. Hand binding my own journals enables me to do this and it is a lot of fun.

The other advantage is that is cheaper to bind your own. It is far cheaper to buy a couple of sheets of good quality paper and make it into a book than buying mass produced sketchbook. Once you have the skill it takes about 2-3 hours to fold, stitch and case a book of 7-10 signatures. Also a hand bound book can lay flat when open if you bind it properly.

I do not use a hand bound journal all the time as I use commercial books too. For the last couple of months I have been using a sketchbook to draw in, and a separate notebook to write in. This split between activities is very rare for me, but it came about when I was given 2 Strathmore mixed media sketchbooks for Christmas. These sketchbooks had 32 page spreads in them. I have filled both of them with drawings and I know if I had also written in them I would have chewed through both of them in about 3-4 weeks. My solution? To use the 2 Christmas gifts as sketchbooks and write in a regular book during that time.

I loved the sketchbooks but did not like the division between sketching and writing. For me a journal runs in chronological order and using one book for this and one book for that feels scattered. My life is not in compartments and areas of life does not fit into boxes so I like to use one book at a time. So when both Strathmore sketchbooks were filled and my notebook I decided it was time to return my regular habit.

Many people like to personalise their journal and hand binding enables me to do this. I have already discussed how I can choose the type of paper to suit how it will be used. I can also make a book the size I want. This book is 9×9 inches (22ms x 22cms) Normally I like a a smaller 5.5 x 8 inches (14cm x21cm) as this size book fits in a hand bag with ease. Sometimes I carry a larger A4 size book but the practicalities of carrying this size can be difficult. It can get heavy to carry but it is possible. For instance when I traveled in Europe I filled 2 A4 size books and 1 smaller A5 book (yes 3 books filled in 10 weeks). My point is that carrying the larger size is possible but not always practical. Anyway I thought I would try a totally new format for me a 9 x9 inch ( 22 x 22 cm) square format. I thought this size might prove to be a compromise between the two as I like a bit of elbow room to draw in.

Apart from being able to experiment with the size of the book and choose your own paper you can make the book as thick or thin as like. In other words you can have something that is only 4-5 signatures or in this case I chose 8 signatures which means it will last me longer than 2 months. It will probably last me about 3. It has a good heft to it which I dont mind but I can see how some people would find it heavy to carry

The other aspect of my journalling habit is that I often add ephemera to my pages. You would be surprised how much print matter and ephemera changes. It can really capture the mood of the time. Incorporating things like cinema tickets, business cards, take out menus etc can really add something to a journal. The problem is that if you do it too much pages bulge. My solution is that I add spacer card to each signature. You often see this done in old fashioned photo albums and scrap books. The space allows the book to bulge without breaking the spine. I use heavy (220 gsm) scrapbook papers as spacers.

As to personalisation the cover in this case is some hand dyed damask which I did a few years ago. Also as pure self indulgence I like to do a collage in the opening page spread. This is personalisation but it also gets over the white first page syndrome. By doing it I feel I have ‘started’ to use the book and I get on with really using it. In other words it stops the muddle headed dithers about a nice new book.

I hope you have found the explanation of some of the points I considered as I bind my own sketchbook journals useful.

I have been very remiss and not shared my drawings much lately. I am still drawing mundane everyday items as practice but not as often in January. Anyway here is everyday Matters drawing challenge 132 “draw a chain”. It sounds easy but is more of challenge than I thought it would be!

I used watercolours, watercolour pencils, and pitt pens in a Strathmore Mixed media sketchbook, which is nearly finished. There are a couple of pages left and it is full. It is the second I have filled this year. I have decided to bind my own sketchbook and mix the type of papers in it so I have a variety of drawing surfaces. I have also decided to make it larger, I am not sure if this will be successful but I will find out as I use it.